These are the best cities in the world to meet people

• Hostelworld surveyed 12,000 people in 39 cities to find out which are the most social.• Social cities are full of people that go out a lot, frequently use social media, and value face-to-face interactions.• Gothenburg in Sweden ranked first, followed by Stockholm and Chicago.

Part of the fun of traveling to different cities is interacting with locals and meeting new people.

Some cities are better for this than others.

Hostelworld set out to find the world's most sociable cities by surveying 12,000 people in 39 cities across 28 countries.

The resulting rankings are based on each city's score in three different categories:

Social activity: how often residents see friends, go out to eat or drink with friends, and use social media.

20. Kuala Lampur, Malaysia

Eating out and drinking with friends is a popular social activity in Kuala Lumpur. The city ranked number four in terms of the average number of times its residents eat out per year, coming in behind big cities like New York City, Chicago, and Boston.

16. Helsinki, Finland

Helsinki ranked second in terms of the value they place on face-to-face interactions with friends. Residents of the city prefer these interactions to activities like playing sports, watching TV, and shopping.

12. Sydney, Australia

Sydney ranked in the top 10 on the sociable versus self-oriented concerns index, meaning that residents place more value on gaining new experiences and being a part of community life rather than owning more material goods and achieving their own goals.

9. Hamburg, Germany

8. Rome, Italy

Like Milan, Rome also ranked high on the openness index, meaning locals think that it's crucial to engage in the authentic culture of the place you're traveling to, and to experience the nightlife of that place.

6. Copenhagen, Denmark

Copenhagen came in second after Gothenburg, Sweden, for the value its inhabitants place on socializing. More specifically, those in Copenhagen enjoy entertaining friends at home (the city ranked first in this index).

The city also ranked second on the tolerance index, meaning they're accepting of various sexual orientations.

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5. New York City, New York

While New York City was named the fifth most sociable city in the world, where it really shone was the overall category of social activity. On average, New Yorkers eat out and drink with friends more than any other of the surveyed cities in a given year.

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4. Boston, Massachusetts

Boston came in third, behind Chicago and New York City, for overall social activity. The city ranked third in both the average number of times its residents socialize with friends in a year and the average number of times they eat out and drink with friends in a year.

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3. Chicago, Illinois

Chicago beat out both Boston and New York to earn the title of the third most sociable city in the world. The city came second overall in the social activity category, meaning Chicagoans socialize with friends often, either by eating out, getting drinks, or using social media.

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2. Stockholm, Sweden

Stockholm ranked second in the social milieu category, meaning that residents of the city enjoy partying, are social when they travel, trust their friends, and are tolerant in social situations. In fact, the city ranked first on the tolerance index.

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1. Gothenburg, Sweden

Gothenburg ranked number one in both the social values and social milieu categories. This means that the city's inhabitants value face-to-face interactions, they enjoy partying, trust their friends, are social when they travel, and are open and tolerant in social situations.